Real, Juventus and Manchester United have degraded with Ronaldo
Cristiano’s individual strength is non-negotiable
The striker has aged, but his average performance per complete game holds above 0.5. Simply put, he scores more often than once every two games. The streak began in 2006, and a decade and a half later, nothing has changed. Although the charts below show that he has lost his peak form irrevocably, let alone at Juventus and Manchester United, in contrast to Real Madrid, where Benzema was, the Portuguese was more often allowed to play in the center of the attack, closer to quality moments.
As you can see, Juventus’ first season was weaker in terms of goals than the next two. Further partners relied on Ronaldo’s saving goals, so without him the team did not get out of the crisis, but rather exacerbated it. At Real Madrid, Cristiano played phenomenally, and at Juventus his transfer was not decisive, waiting for new ones. At Manchester United, where they need a forward who catches the rhythm of the team rather than being an add-on, Cristiano showed his will on the days when he scored more than two goals. And could have disappeared from the radar on the nights of defeat that led to the Europa League. So is Ronaldo making his team better?
From Real Madrid, Ronaldo decided to leave at the beginning of the reforms
Cristiano, like Zidane, is among the most cunning footballers in history. The cunning, among other things, confirms the decision to leave Real Madrid after another victory in the Champions League. The Frenchman later made a mistake – he returned, and the Portuguese clearly understood that rebuilding was on the nose. There is such a rating – ClubElo. We have already talked about it before. Its creators give points to the clubs for wins and losses, but take into account the state and class of the opponent. A comparison under the same rules allows you to get a numerical evaluation of the form of different teams. So, Real Madrid was on the verge of rebuilding and difficult times.
Ronaldo took the cream off the table. And at first he had to suffer – many times until the spring of 2014, Real suffered ridicule after another Champions League playoff exit. But Cristiano scored, waited for Ancelotti, and later chose Zidane. For a couple of years Real Madrid were at the peak of form, but closer to the last victory with Ronaldo began a noticeable decline. It was stopped at its lowest point, Perez’s transfers and Ancelotti’s successes, Courtois’ saves and Benzema’s goals lifted Real Madrid closer to its former peak. But look at the chart above – the new Madrid is weaker than the one it was. Visually, too, it’s clear; winning the Champions League was not easy, and the crises of Atletico and Barcelona helped in La Liga. But Real Madrid is not lost without Ronaldo, it is rebuilding and going up – that’s a fact.
Didn’t stop Juventus’ degradation and hurt MJ
In Turin, it’s simple. The champions reached the peak of the season, where Ronaldo adapted with a creak, and then went to a severe decline, which the Portuguese did not stop with his goals. The graph below is telling – Juventus was losing power. The opponents realized that the king is naked, Marotta and Conte with Inter took away the title, Milan no longer counted with the Turinians when they were on their way to their long-awaited title. For a while, Juventus were no longer a successful team. Touching a personal bottom, which does not exclude that next season with Pogba and Di Maria will go better. But Ronaldo only gave the illusion that everything is fine.
In Manchester, on the other hand, things are different. Sulsher’s personal peak, second place in the APL, continued to fall. It is illiterate to conclude that it was only because of Ronaldo. It wasn’t him that caused the defense to make mistakes, it was Rashford and Sancho to fall behind the veteran. But Cristiano, upon his return to a familiar club, was severely unlucky. Got into a team that had already committed similar maneuvers – since the fall of 2017 degraded. Then the results jumped up a little, then dived almost to the level of 2017. And Ronaldo doesn’t have five years to wait for MJ to return to a personal peak. And it’s important to note that if you overlay Liverpool and Manchester City’s schedules on MJ’s, the difference is huge. Ronaldo is not on a strong team, when modeling the Super League, the algorithms send MJ to the relegation zone, which is understandable.
New club at risk, team has to plow through Ronaldo
What Manchester City prefers to keep quiet about is that Ten Hague doesn’t need Ronaldo. It’s not Tadic playing in the middle of the attack. They didn’t even torture Dušan for long, they brought in Haller. And it turned out quite well. But as long as Cristiano is on the roster, no high class striker will go to MJ. He’ll be afraid to sit on the bench. Also, the purchase of Anthony from Ajax and the presence of Sancho say that the Dutch coach does not see Ronaldo as a winger. And Cristiano doesn’t represent himself in that role, only an insider or forward. But MJ needs to pick from the pit, and Ronaldo wants easy wins.
It is also obvious that the Portuguese is banal tired. Only in the national leagues eighteen years in a row has played more than 2200 minutes. Only once appeared in less than thirty matches, often taking more than 90% of the possible playing time. A capricious player and couldn’t stand being changed during games. By the way, this habit can ruin his coming seasons, as it has already ruined Messi. Lionel refused to rest when he was young, and it was worth it to be fresher now. Ronaldo can make a more powerful already great team – at Bayern or Manchester City, if he had chosen the Citizens last summer, it could have worked.
But he shouldn’t dive into a rebuild. Or where the status of the team is clearly difficult to establish, as at PSG and Chelsea. Tuchel, they say, is not burning with the desire to sign Ronaldo, who subjugates the team. “Juventus has become hostage to Cristiano’s habits and delayed his exit from the crisis. And the downfall that could have happened to MJ, regardless of the last name of the “seven”, coincided with the arrival of Ronaldo. He left Real Madrid just in a slump for the team, subtly sensing such moments. And not very good at choosing new clubs. Blame Mendes, the agent is often ridiculous in choosing teams for clients because he cares more about the size of the premiums.
It’s a shame that there is no ideal team for Ronaldo right now. But analysis shows that even such a great footballer and famous sniper, if a team slumps, can’t change anything. “Juventus fell and continued to fall without Ronaldo. “Real began to fall, and already without Cristiano it has surfaced – praise to Courtois and Benzema. What will happen to Manchester United? No one knows the answer to that question. But it is clear what Ronaldo’s refusal to train and club tour means – the Portuguese is looking for a new club. And for MJ the worst case scenario if he does not find one. He’ll be back on the pitch, and everyone around him will realize: nobody needs the great Ronaldo in the summer of 2022.
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